This blog is a result of the heavy censoring of the media by the military dictatorship regime.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Ghanian businessman: I'm not the con artist

The Ghanian at the centre of the fraud allegations that led to both Ben Padarath and Suva lawyer, Renee Lal, being beaten says he's not guilty of conning anyone.

In an email to Coupfourpointfive, Paul Kofi Freeman says if anyone is a con artist he claims it's Renee Lal.

Coupfourpointfive made contact with Freeman over a week ago and he told us he wanted to set the record straight regarding his resume, in particular misconceptions he worked for OilLibya and the President of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.

Freeman said he has never told Renee Lal or anybody else for that matter that he worked for OilLibya, saying he made it clear in his resume that he only had contact with top management of the company.

He also told us that he had never said he worked for Mbasogo but had connections with the President.

Several Fiji locals have questioned Freeman's credentials.

A resume in Coupfourpointfive's possession believed to be Freeman's reads: "As a citizen of Ghana, attended one of the top universities in Ghana and upon graduation from the University of Cape Coast in 2002 worked for petroleum related firms in Africa and then worked with an international logistics and planning firm based in Kenya from 2007 until present.

"2002-2007 PETROLEUM EXPERIENCE: Hired by G E Petroleum to work with the customer relations and marketing departments in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. After gaining much experience in leveraged purchases of petroleum and advanced commodities contracts for both crude and natural gas was hired by Voltabase Consultancy in South Africa to work in the major purchases section of the marketing group."

Freeman said he was surprised to see our report (Coupfourpointfive, March 1) describing him as an internet conman.

He told us he believed Lal was behind the misinformation and that it was aimed at deflecting attention from herself.

He says: "She took my money and planned with Ben to deport me out of Fiji by saying I was infected by HIV."

He added: "If someone is a conman, Renee is Number One con master here."

Freeman also said he wasn't doing any oil exploration in Bau waters and was to tell Coupfourpointfive the exact nature of his business in Fiji but has since been unavailable.

Coupfourpointfive broke the story early last month about the $400,000 fraud allegations involving Renee Lal and Ben Padarath.

It's alleged Lal and Padarath tricked the Ghanian into giving them money claiming it was needed for the dictator, Frank Bainimarama, for things like Christmas presents.

Renee Lal was beaten by military soldiers before Padarath and is understood to be mounting a legal defence.

Padarath's involvement has been more complicated. It emerged after the fraud allegations that Padarath, the nephew of the former land force commander, Peter Driti, knew of last year's failed plot to overthrow Bainimarama.

He has since been charged with allegedly concealing false government documents and is to appear again in the Suva Magistrates Court early next month.

44 comments:

Anonymous
said...

I hope freeman can tell fiji people .How he came to fiji and how he knew about oil/gas projects.He used tim nobriga of scms ltd. to know about oil/gas project.He than used my friends too and came to a meeting that he wanted to buy momi bay projects.

What i fail to understand is how this foreigner managed to come to ur shores. He has been barking all this time and its easy to do so without consequences since he knows the RFMF cant touch him. He has been conning people all over the place offering to buy their business and trying to be a angel now. Suppose bad habits die hard.

He could be a Nigerian pretending to be Ghanian like all connis Nigerians do.. They known as the biggest con artist in Africa.. Beside any dealings with people who went to university in West Coast Africa you have very slim chance of getting a real person who is honest. Not saying they all con but its like niddle in a haystack!!! Sa con gai mai sa na ya sa con talega ga oratou sana qo.. Con vs Con or Con + Con = Conpujo!!!

A lawyer friend said that freeman is locked up in jail.Freeman wanted him to act for his court case and bail him out.Con man freeman ,ben and reene will spent time in jail conning each others seems.Immigration dept should investigate freeman.he married a local fijian girl now.

Hey! No need to make this about race or ethnicity. I have known many Nigerian and Ghanian good people of standing. I also know a few people in our community who are con artists. Corruption is a global phenomena. Lets stick to the issue. Whatever Mr Freeman alleges - it does not warrant any form of violence and I believe that he was wrong to take this matter up with Franks Hit Squad. If he has an issue - take it to the police. BTW - Fiji Immigration is well versed with HIV and AIDS issues - it does not warrant an arrest or investigation. So what was the motive for you to pay the Hit Squad to unleash this violence as a Foreigner? WHY?!

Rene and sister are big con. They took at $400k loan from old lady in NZ to fund their weddings. Now not wanting to pay. Poor lady not getting money back . Rene saying money was dirty mney in the first place. Man! talk about ethics.

@ anon 4:17 - so what's your lame excuse for not considering legal recourse, going to the media, approaching FICAC or the combination of all three? Whoever hired the hit squad to unleash violence will be taken to task when D-Day arrives: be it Freeman or the partner in J&A. D-day is just around the corner so be ready...

There are con people all over the world today, not only in Ghana & Nigeria or any other African country for that matter, stop making it an ethnicity issue, it was just unfortunate that Ben and Renee's conning back fired on them, for your information, Freeman's case is with the police, this whole saga became known to the military because of Ben Padaraths conning. If Paul Freeman is really a con man it will be exposed one day, lets not start crucifying the poor guy, all he is trying to do is do business here, unfortunately some fiji con's tried to take advantage of him. Give the guy a chance. Its good for the country that he is bringing business in, tough luck to those of you who tried to con him, because let me tell you, Freeman is not stupid, he is a very intelligent guy.

FIJI,IT'S LEADERS AND INDIGENOUS FIJIAN STILL HAVE NOT LEARNED FROM PAST MISTAKES....CARRY ON FIJISO MUCH THEORY.....NOTHING PRACTICAL....DON'T BE FOOLED PEOPLE....FIJI IS ALREADY ARE FAILED STATE...THOSE WHO WHO ARE TALKING ABOUT PROSPERITY IN FIJI ARE DELUDED...THE BIBLE HAS ALREADY FORSEEN THAT THE WORLD IS SLOWLY DRIFTING INTO CHAOS...THERE WILL BE NO MORE PEACE..SO ACCEPT IT!!!!!!!!!

There is certainly no case on freeman, the case is about ben and renee and all those who have been caught wanting to overthrow the military. So obviously there wouldn't be anything on freeman at the police station because he is not at fault here, the military's involvement took place when ben's place was raided and they found confidential documents that shouldn't be with Ben, 'wanting to overthrow the govt of the day', so have your facts right before you start exposing your stupidness on the blog. Give Freeman a chance, he is just a businessman wanting to do business here, its good for him and the country as well.

@ 12.28PMInteresting! Do you know who that old woman in NZ was and the purpose of loan?

The whole lot of them including Freeman and the other partners in Jamnadas and Associates should be investigated. A few years ago the Sloan girl was charged for taking trust money from that same law firm. I wonder if she was the scape goat.

Because Freeman is barking at Renee and Ben for his money that they swindled, he has now become the bad guy, keep them separated please whoever you are, blaming Freeman as well, just so happened that his desire to get his money recovered has got alot of people here in trouble, may be if there were no con people like Renee and especially Ben Padarath the biggest con men in Fiji, such issues like this would have occured

And Nina never spent time in jail - she hopped out of the country before police even began investigations! FICAC needs to look at Dilip. But first is the so called "independent" legal services commissioner even looking at Dilip? or is he too close to Aiyaz?has too many "investors" lined up eh?? Come on Connors, do your JOB! or is the priority to go after anti-coup lawyers or those who supported in the beginning like Vipul and then changed their mind??

Did the FLS ever get around to disciplining Dilip for the missing trust fund millions? Police haven't even got to him yet. How about FICAC? How about Judge Connors the legal commissioner? too lamu to investigate Dilip? He's too close to Aiyaz??

Investigate this Freeman falla - why would he pay $30,000 for Frank's "christmas bonus"?? doesn't he know that is corruption? is that normal business practice where he comes from? Does he have an agreement with FICAC or with Frank granting him immunity from prosecution?

Why haven't charges been laid against Renee if this is true? Why haven't charges been laid against Ben Padarath?

Why bring Renee's sister into this? S Why would Renee who has property in Fiji, Australia and NZ want a measly $30,000 christmas bonus? The woman made far more in a week in her legal practice!

Shame on you Dilip for putting Renee out to the dogs - she kept Jamnadas together while you were out hiking in Nepal and getting your third wife - while Nina Seru and Anne Sloan fiddled with the trust account at Jamnadas!

Dilip is the one that needs to be investigated. Oh, and one more thing - Amani never worked at LTA. Get your facts right. At the very basic, check the basic truthfulness of claimed "facts" before you publish such personal vendettas.

Are you one of those that have got into trouble, open your eyes, Freeman wasn't the one its Big Con Man Ben Padarath, serves him right having a coke bottle up his arse, and by the way, I don't need Freemans money and he doesn't have to pay me, I am simply an outsider looking in and making my own analysis about this whole saga. If someone has to be dealt with is Renee, Amani Bale who also had access to Freeman's money and Ben and his wife who condones every con job that Ben does. Can't understand why she went ahead a married a con like him, good luch Ms Peters

Amani was Lta arbitrator...sir vijays old job. As for Rene's sister, she was a lawyer in auckland and helped swindle that old lady in Auckland. Rene is a big back stabber ...I guess dalip got the better of her this time around.

Why is everyone wasting their time making comments when those of you making comments don't know half the truth on what you are commenting on. Rest it please you lot are beginning to sound like a scratch record.

So is Renee still in Fiji or on travel ban? Did FICAC interview Bainimarama on Freeman allegations that he gave $30,000 for his christmas bonus? Probably paid for Frank's and his five kids and their families holiday at Denarau.

Wow! You make cowardly accusations and hide behind pseudonyms,but don't have the decency to do so with your real name and face your victims squarely. Sad. Must have a lot of time on your hands. Know what they say about empty vessels.

Just for the record, Dilip is many things, but he is the most decent, kind and ethical person I know. I worked for him for 14 years. What is your ethos? Before you start throwing stones, look at yourselves in the mirror and ask yourselves if you don't deserve any of those stones boomeranging back at ya. I don't even know why I am trying to justify any of this to you lot. any intelligent person would know that making blatant, unsubstantiated, slanderous conjectures and assertions require supporting proof. I guess you all need lessons in critical thinking so that you can address issues with a view to arriving at constructive conclusions or resolutions rather than engaging in petty mudslinging personal attacks. In any event, what do you hope to gain?